Circular-knitting machine



*(No'Model.) ,d

' '0. T. SULLIVAN. l

CIRCULAR KNITTING'MAUHINB.

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UNiTi-zn STATES PATENT @iL-FicIn;

CHARLES TLVSULLWAN, or LowELL, MASSACHUSETTS. v,

CIRCULAR-KNITTiNGMACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 376,789, dated January 24, 1888.

k Application filed May 18, 1887. SerialrNo. 238,575. (No model.) d

To aZZ whom it may concern.' i

Be it known that I, CHARLES T. SULLIVAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Low-v ell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Circular- Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to knitting-machines; 1o and it consists in means, hereinafter described,

of throwing the clearing-wheel out of engagement with the needles of a 4spring-needle circular-knitting machine to prevent said needles being bent or broken by more than one needle at a time getting into the space between two adjacent blades of said clearing-wheel; also,

in means hereinafterpdescribed, of indicating by a suitable signal the disengagement'of the clearing-wheel.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a central vertical section of a part of' a circular spring-needlev knittingmachine provided with my improvement, the plane of section being j ust in front of the clearing-wheel audits z5 bracket, the clearing-wheel being shown by full lines in engagement with the needles, the dotted lines showing the position of the clearingwheel when out of engagement; Fig. 2, a front elevation of" the clearing-wheel andV its sup- 3o porting-bracket and the alarm-bell, the clear.

ing-wheel being in the position occupied when out of l engagementwith the needles-that is, in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. l. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are respectively a leftside elevation, a right-side elevation, and a rear elevation of the parts shownI in Fig. 2, in the position shown in said gure; Fig. 6, a rear elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2, in the vposition there shown, and the bell-hammer, 4o omitting the bell and the upper part of the bracket-lever spring; Fig. 7, a right-side elevation of the base of the bracket which supports the clearing-wheel and lower part of thesliding upper portion of said bracket; Fig. 8,

` a plan of the parts shown in Fig. 7; Fig. 9, a

of said lever when the clearing-wheel is in engagement with the needles and its position-out of engagement with the needles. Y n Thev knitting-machine vshown in the drawings is or may be of any ordinary construction,

the circular head or cylinder A, carrying-needles a, secured to said head by clamp-plates a and being revolved by the beveled head-gear i u a2, secured to the head', which takes into an--6o Y, other beveled gear, B', secured on a horizontal driving-shaft,b, in the usual manner, said A shaftbeing provided with a fast pulley, b', and a loose pulley, b2, the parts above, enumj erated being used with the usual loop-wheel 'or stitch-wheel (not shown) and other parts of a circular spring-needle knitting-machine. ,y The clearing-wheel C is of ordinary construction and operation, its function being to clear the needles of kinks in the yarn' and 7e y bunchesof lint made in thel operation of knitting. Y The clearing-wheel C turns upon a stud, c, which is inclined substantially as shown in the drawings, and is provided with blades-c', each space between the'blades being intended 75 to receive a single needle as the cylinder and clearing-wheel are revolved in the directions shown by the arrows, I:he stud c being usually,

supported upon a bracket adjustable radially toward or away from the cylinder A, and-also 8o adjustable yvertically to vary the height of the clearing-wheel, the bracket, of course, being rigidly held when adjusted. i

It not infrequently happens thatl the clearing-wheel is partly stopped by lint andwaste 8 5,

getting wound around the' stud c, so thattwo adjacent needles enter'the same space between .blades of the clearing-wheel, and are thereby bent or broken. If the motion of the clearing-wheel is wholly stopped, instead'of being' 9o y checked, all the needles are liable to be bent or broken unless the machine -is'stopped before the complete revolution of the head is made.' Again, the needles are liable to be bent by an unusuallylarge bunch of waste getting between the clearing-wheel and thencedles. i p y To obviate the difficulties above described,

.I provide means by which the clearing-wheel is'automaticallythrown out of engagement with roo the needles whenever the-pressure of the needles upon the clearing-wheel or ther pressureof a bunch between the needles and the clearing wheel exceeds a definite amount. To this end I use an adjustable bracket, D, the lower part, d, of 4which is an angle-piece, the foot d' of which is provided with a slot, d1, through which a screw, d3, passes vertically down into the frame of the knitting-machine, and this screw being loosened, the distance of the foot d from the needles a may be varied. Adjustably secured to the vertical portion of the angle-piece d is another part, d, of the bracket D, said angle-piece being provided in its upper portion with a vertical slot, d5, through which the bolt d6 is driven into the part d, to enable said part d* to be held at any desired height on the angle-piece d.

The adjustment of the parts d d* of the bracket D, above described, is not new, and is substantially shown in the clearing-wheel brackets commonly used; but the stud c, instead of being secured (as is usually the case) to the vertically-sliding part d* of said bracket, is by me secured to the upper inner end of a bracket-lever, E, pivoted or hinged at e to the upper end of said part di To the lower outer end of the lever `E is journaled an anti-friction roll, e. To the side of the foot of the bracket D is secured vby screws f a sheet-metal spring, F, the upper portion, j', of which is vertical and parallel with the pivot e of the lever E, and presses against the anti-friction roll e'. The lever E is pivoted between the tines of the forked upper end, d5, of the piece d4, and the surface dT between the tines of said fork is flat and horizontal, as shown in Figs. 10 and 1l. The under-side of the lever E, near its pivot e, is provided with two flat surfaces, e e, either of which may be brought into contact with the flat surface 017, to stop the lever in either of the positions shown in Fig. 1. When the lever is in either of these positions, it is prevented from being jarred or accidentally moved to the other position by the spring F pressing against thc outer end ot' said lever, or rather against the anti-friction roll e', the center of said roll, when the clearing-wheel is in engagement with the needles, being a triiie above the center of the pivot e, so that when the clearing-wheel is slightly raised it will be suddenly thrown upward by the turning of the bracketlever on its pivot.

It is desirable that the person in charge of the machine (one person usually having charge of from eight to twenty heads or machines) should be notified -immediately when the clearing-wheel is thrown out of engagement. Accordingly, I provide a bell or gong, Gr, which is supported upon a horizontal stud, g, driven into the upper part, d", of the bracket D. On another stud, g3, is supported a bellhammer, GQ the stein g of the hammer being bent around said stud g3, so as to turn freely thereon, thelower end of said stemgbeing bent laterally under the outer arm of the bracketlever E and held against the saine by the wire spring g2, which is hooked around the upper arm of the stem of the bell-hammer, then bent around the stud g3, and at its lower end resting against the outer face of the part dof the bracket D. Hence when the clearing-wheel is thrown out of engagement the outer arm of the lever E moves the bell -hammer stem, and causes the hammer to strike the gong and give an alarm, the hammerbeing arranged in a suitable position for that purpose. When the lever E is restored to position by the hand of the person in chargeot' the machine, the han mer G is drawn away `from the gong by the expansion of the spring g.

The pressure of the spring F-may be increased by turning up the tension-screw F', which passes through `a hole in said tensionspring and turns in a screw-threaded hole in the lower part, d, of the bracket D, the head of the tensionscrew resting against the outer surface of the spring or against a washer, f", interposed between said spring and the head .of said screw. By loosening the tension-screw the pressure of the spring F is lessened. The

pressure of the spring F should be so adj usted as to allow a small bunch to be carried down below the loop-wheel by the clearing-wheel without disengaging the clearing-wheel from the needles, and on the other hand to allow the clearing-wheel to be thrown out of engagement by a bunch large enough to stop the clearing-wheel or bend the needles if the clearing-wheel were supported, in the usual manner, rigidly and directly upon the bracket D.

The invention above described not only prevents the breaking and bending of the needles and the loss of time required to replace and repair the broken and bent needles, but also prevents blades of the clearing-wheel being bent or broken by the needles.

l claim as myinvention l. The combination of the clearing-wheel .and a suitable stand or bracket adapted to be secured upon the frame of a circular springneedle knitting-machine,with means, substantially as described, for supporting said clearing-wheel upon said'stand or bracket in a position to ybe engaged and rotated by the needles of'said knitting-machine and of allowing said clearing-wheel to be thrown out of en` gagement with said needles automatically by the pressure of bent needles or-bunches ot' lint too large to be removed from the needles by said clearing-wheel,.as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the clearing-wheel bracket, a bracketlever pivoted to the upper end of said bracket and provided on its under side with two flatsurfaces, either of which may be brought intocontact with a ilat surface with which said bracket is provided, an inclined stud secured upon one end of said bracket-lever, a clearing-wheel supported on 4said stud, and a spring secured to saidbracket and pressing against the other end of said bracket-lever to hold either of said flat sur- IOC I faces of said lever in contact with said at surface of said bracket and thereby to hold said clearing-Wheel in a position to be engaged or out of engagement with the needles of a knitting-machine, as and forlthe purpose specified.

3. The combination of the clearing-wheel bracket, a lever pivoted upon said bracket, an inclined studsecured upon one end of said lever, a clearing-wheel supported upon said stud, a gong supported uponsaid bracket, a hammer pivoted upon said bracketin proximity to said gong and having a stem bent under saidlever and adapted,when said leversturnedy upon its pvot to lift said clearing-wheel, to be brought into contact with said gong, anda spring securedto said bracket and pressing j against the lower end of said lever, substantially as described, to throw said clearingwheel suddenly upward when the same is slightly'raised, asand for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of the' clearing-Wheel bracket, a lever pivoted upon said bracket, an

inclined stud secured upon one end ofsaid lever, a clearing-wheel supported upon said stud, a gong supported upon said bracket, a

hammer pivoted upon said bracket and hav# ing a stem bent under said lever and adapted, when said `lever is turned upon its pivot to lift said clearing-Wheel,to strikesaid gong,a spring secured to said bracket and connected to said said bracket-lever is restored to position, and Q another spring secured to saidl bracket and pressing against the lower end of said lever toy throw said clearing Wheel suddenly upward when the sameis slightly raised, as and forthe Apurpose specified.

30' stem to restore said hammer to position when i ssf In witness whereof I have signed thisspecifi'- i 

